Jachtschotel

Imagine a hunter returning home with fresh meat. This is when the “Jachtschotel” hunting dishes are prepared. It contains of beef steaks, onions, potatoes and apples. Since it’s an autumn dish, I will serve it with stewed pears and sweet red cabbage.

This recipe consists of two parts. One being the stew and the second being the mashed potatoes.
For this recipe I’m using beef and a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time of the stew to 1 hour.

Ingredients

– 700 g of beef steaks

– 2 onions

– 2 apples

– 60 ml vinegar

– 100 grams of butter

– pepper

– 2 bay leaves

– 2 cloves

– salt

– 4 tbsp of bread crumbs

– 4 potatoes

– 50 grams of wheat flour

Preparation

Stew

• 1) First, cut the meat into 1cm x 1cm cubes, then remove the membranes. Add a little salt and pepper and mix the spices into the meat. Then add about 50 grams of flour and also mix these through the meat until all cubes are covered.
• 2) Put the frying pan over medium-high heat. Then add about 50 grams of butter. Wait until it’s all melted. Start frying the meat until brown on both sides. When done, place the meat in a pressure cooker or stewpot. Leave the butter in the pan.
• 3) Time to chop the onions. First cut them in half, then into thick slices. Fry the onions over medium-high heat until light brown. Reduce the heat and add 60 ml vinegar. Scrape the skin off of the meat from the pan. Then also add the onions to the pressure cooker.
• 4) Add the bay leaves and cloves. Put the cloves into the bay leaves to make them easier to remove. Pour in enough cold water to cover the meat. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Close the lid and turn the pressure cooker to its highest setting. Simmer for about an hour. 3 hours if using a stewpot.

Mashed potatoes

• 5) Time to make mashed potatoes. Start peeling the potatoes. Cut them into small pieces to cook faster. Put in a little salt and pour in water to cover. Turn the heat too high to bring the water to a boil. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes. If you can pierce it with a fork, it’s done.
• 6) Remove the water until there is a little water left at the bottom. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher. Then add about 20 grams of butter and continue mashing. Add a little salt and pepper. Add about 10 grams of nutmeg and continue mashing until you get a puree.

Finishing the Jachtschotel

• 7) It’s time to prepare the Jachtschotel. Remove the bay leaves and cloves from the stew. The meat should be tender by now. Butter a baking dish and preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius.
• 8) Time to peel the apples. Remove the seeds and the flesh. Cut them into thick slices in such a way to have holes in them.
• 9) Remove the excess water from the stew to have a more dry stew. Don’t throw away the water, it will make a delicious soup base.
• 10) It’s time to prepare the oven dish. Start by adding a layer of mashed potatoes in the bottom of the oven dish. For the second layer, pour the stew on top. Then add a layer of sliced ​​apples. Add another layer of mashed potatoes. Then add the breadcrumbs for the last layer. Finally, to make the breadcrumbs crispy, add about 6 small cubes butter on top.
• 11) Bake it in the oven for about 15 minutes, then bake on the grill setting for another 10 minutes. It’s ready when the crust on the top is brownish and crispy.